


Things That Go Splash at Night

by Hester (hester4418)



Series: Guess Who? [15]
Category: Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Gen, Guess the characters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:19:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,172
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hester4418/pseuds/Hester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ficlet written in response to VAMB's "Guess the Pairing Contest 2015". The object was to write short stories about any pairing of established characters without mentioning any names, and then for the readers to guess the protagonists. Come and have a try! ;-)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Things That Go Splash at Night

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: Star Trek: Voyager and all its characters belong to Paramount Pictures; no infringement of copyright is intended. The story however belongs to me.
> 
> Written March 2015.
> 
> The correct character is listed at the bottom of the story - I've put in some spoiler space, so if you want to guess, don't scroll down too quickly!

The beach was deserted. Kathryn Janeway slowly made her way along the shore, letting the waves wash over her feet and inhaling deeply of the salty air. It smelled like home, even tasted like home. And yet home was still more than 40,000 lightyears away.

The new luau program was the most-played simulation on the holodeck these days, and not just because of the colorful cocktails available from the Caribbean-style bar. The beach behind the bar had fast become a favorite off-duty meeting place for many of the crew. The beach volleyball fields were always in high demand, but there were usually an equal number of crew members taking a swim in the ocean or just relaxing in the sun.

For Janeway, the program's nighttime settings held the most appeal. She had always been prone to bouts of insomnia and could often be found wandering the ship's corridors when sleep eluded her. It had been during one of those walks that she'd discovered the still-running program. Closer inspection had revealed about a dozen crew members using the simulation at the time, and there'd been an open invitation for anyone to join in. Her curiosity piqued, she'd ventured inside and had enjoyed a quiet stroll along the darkened sea shore. Even though she'd stayed for almost an hour, she hadn't met a soul, and when she'd questioned Tom Paris later that day, he had confirmed her impression that people mostly preferred the night setting for its soothing solitude.

Tonight she'd felt particularly restless, and had come to the holodeck hoping to find a measure of peace under the star-speckled sky again. A half-moon was painting the beach in shades of silver, interspersed with long shadows cast by the palm trees lining the shore.

After several more minutes of walking, Janeway left the waterline and moved further up the beach to where the water wouldn't reach. Then she spread out the blanket she'd brought and lay down on her back. Her plan was to study the constellations for a while, in the hopes of distracting her over-active mind from _Voyager_ 's seemingly endless list of troubles.

She soon found that the plan worked even better than expected. The continuous sound of gently rolling waves had a lulling effect making her eyelids start to droop. At first she tried to resist but then decided that a short nap wouldn't hurt, especially considering that she'd been unable to find any sleep in her bed earlier.

Some indeterminate time later, a loud splash roused her from her doze. Disoriented by the darkness, her unfamiliar surroundings and the remnants of sleep fogging her brain, Janeway looked around wildly for any sign of attack. And sure enough, a dark figure was running up the beach, headed straight for her position. She sat up quickly and groped around for a stick or a rock, anything to defend herself with, but too late.

Three steps away from her, the figure stopped suddenly. "Who's there?" a somewhat familiar voice asked. Just then, the moon emerged from behind a cloud, bathing their surroundings once again in a soft silver light. "Captain?" the voice came again, surprise evident.

Even though the rational part of her mind screamed at her to avert her eyes, Janeway found herself unable to do so. The man in front of her was certainly familiar, and yet she'd never seen him quite like this before. She simply couldn't _not_ look, and the half-moon provided just enough illumination for her to see much more than she ever would have chosen to see voluntarily.

Droplets of water glistened all over his naked form and in the many tufts of thick hair growing in unexpected places. The dark spots running up his legs formed a visible line all the way up to his navel, where they met briefly but then diverged again along either side of his chest, across his shoulders, up his neck to his temples.

She croaked out something which was supposed to be his name and he immediately straightened, adopting an almost military posture which looked all the more ridiculous in his current state of undress. "What are you doing here?" she asked, finally having regained her voice.

He fidgeted, half-tuning first left and then right as if uncertain whether this was her private beach and he really had no business trespassing. "The other day, the Doctor mentioned that he'd gone skinny dipping," he finally explained, uncharacteristically hesitant. "He asked me if I'd ever tried it and I told him I hadn't. You remember how water is scarce where I come from?"

She nodded mutely, trying to keep her eyes fixed on his face instead of his swinging extremities.

"Well, he said it was a unique experience that I shouldn't miss, so I started coming here. This stretch of beach is usually deserted at night, so I didn't check if anyone..."

"That's quite all right," Janeway cut off his flow of words. "I'm not usually in the habit of falling asleep on the holodeck."

"This program is wonderfully relaxing, don't you think?" he exclaimed, some of his usual exuberance returning. "I've heard many of the crew saying so."

"Indeed." Suppressing a yawn, she got to her feet and picked up her blanket.

Alarmed, he stepped forward and caught her arm. "You don't need to leave on my account, Captain."

Normally she didn't mind if anyone invaded her personal space, but this was different. Even though he was certainly a big asset to her crew, buck-naked and dripping wet was not how she preferred seeing him, much less be touched by him.

Quickly extricating her arm from his grasp, she shook her head. "I really need to be going, I have the early shift tomorrow. Enjoy your swim."

"Oh, I'm not swimming," he chuckled. "I'm just wading. But you have a good night now, Captain. Breakfast will be ready at your usual time."

"Thank you." After she bade him good night, she called for the arch, but then turned and watched him amble back to the water. With a slight shudder she recalled part of a report she'd received shortly after _Voyager_ 's arrival in the Delta Quadrant, in which a member of her crew had described a particular 'first contact' situation very similar to the encounter she'd just had, and with the same protagonist. However, she suspected that she'd gotten even more of an eyeful tonight. It had certainly been a sight she'd never forget, and she hoped that the mental image would not follow her into her dreams.

-==/ The End \==-

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_-==/ Neelix \==-_

_If you're a VAMBie, the correct answer is of course_ Nekkid _Neelix! And if you're not but would like to find out more about this inside joke, come join us on VAMB! :-D_


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